THERE were beaming smiles on the faces of children’s ward patients when a group of primary school pupils delivered a bumper donation of toys.

Children from Rawdhatul Uloom Primary School in Whalley Old Road, Blackburn donated the toys to young patients at Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital.

In partnership with national educational charity Ilm2Amal, which means ‘Knowledge To Action’ in Arabic, pupils from the school visited the hospital last week to present gifts to patients aged from four to 14.

Rawdhatul Uloom Primary School teacher Nahida Khan said the school wanted to ‘bring a ray of sunshine’ to the lives of ill children at the hospital.

She said: “We sent out letters to parents asking them to send in gifts for us to donate to the hospital.

“We had a tremendous turnout and the school council visited the hospital to deliver the gifts.”

The gift donation was an important part of the pupil’s wider education, in addition to learning about the importance of community action, donating a gift and then visiting the children’s ward to meet staff and patients shows the pupils how their actions benefit both individuals and communities.

Ilm2Amal chief executive Waqaus Ali, said: “This was an amazing project for both the pupils and patients, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

“It was a pleasure to see the smiles on the faces of the young patients and their parents, despite the difficulties that they face in their lives.”

Visiting the hospital on behalf of the Rawdhatul Uloom Primary School were Hafsa Hamid, Shahana Akbar, Mua’az Yusuf, Saudah Begum, Omar Siddiq, Abubaker Siddiq, Omar Abdullah and Hidaya Islam.

Children’s ward manager Sister Cheryl Fitzgerald thanked the school’s pupils and staff.

She said: “Many thanks to the primary school pupils and to Ilm2Amal for their generous donations.

“You could tell from their reaction that our patients really appreciated the gifts.”